This invention generally relates to household refrigerators and more particularly concerns an adjustable air duct to supply cold air flow from the evaporator compartment of the refrigerator into a meat keeper which may be positioned at different levels or on different sides of the fresh food compartment of a top freezer refrigerator.
The ideal temperature for storing fresh meat is 33.degree. or just above freezing. This temperature, however, is below the preferable temperature for storing other perishable items such as vegetables, fruits and dairy products. The normal temperature of a fresh food compartment within the refrigerator is 36.degree.-38.degree. F. It is therefore recognized that if a separate compartment is provided for meat within the fresh food compartment, and is kept at a colder temperature, fresh meat will keep longer.
In order that the meat compartment be at a lower temperature, it is often located at the bottom of the fresh food compartment. This design relies on the fact that colder air flows down the back of the refrigerator and tends to collect in the bottom of the fresh food compartment. Thus the colder air chills the meat compartment.
A problem with this arrangement is the inconvenience to the user of a meat keeper compartment which is located at the bottom of the refrigerator. The user is forced to constantly stoop to put meat into the compartment or to take it out.
For the sake of convenience for the user, it is preferable to mount the meat keeper compartment directly below the top shelf in the fresh food compartment of the refrigerator. At this location it is easy to place even heavy roasts into the compartment and easy as well to see into the back of the compartment so that food does not become lost in the back of the compartment.
In order to provide colder air flow at the top shelf location, previous designs have required that the top shelf be substantially immovable.
The meat keeper compartment generally occupies only half the width of the fresh food compartment. Previous designs have thus also required that the meat compartment be fixed to one side of the refrigerator. This prohibited the option of switching sides.
It is of great advantage to the user to be able to shift the meat keeper compartment vertically to allow various spacing within the fresh food compartment. It is also an advantage to be able to locate the meat keeper compartment on either side of the refrigerator, especially for refrigerators in which the door may be hinged from either side. The meat keeper should be easily adjustable to allow maximum convenience for the user.
It is also an advantage to the user to provide an air flow control so that the user may determine for himself how cold to keep the meat keeper compartment in relation to the fresh food compartment. The control should be easy to manipulate and permit the user to provide a ready adjustment in the cold air flow so that the user can compensate for type or amount of meat or provide less cold air flow when the user wants to slowly defrost frozen meat by storing it in the meat keeper compartment.